Shaved Heads Meeting Or The One Time Damian Was The Only One
by Redzik
Summary: Shaved Heads Meeting Or The One Time Damian Was The Only One On The Good Side. Just a little something about how Ric and Jason could meet and Damian tagged along to protect Grayson from the Big Bad Red Hood. Rated T for swearing.


Ric groaned as the voices reached him, waking him from his nap. Damn Bats. Couldn't they leave him alone? That readheaded bitch was the worst, closely followed by this puppy dog-eyed kid. At least Wayne seemed to get the message and let him go. A part of Ric, a very small part mind you, was hurt and disappointed by that, but a least the man respected his wishes.

"What are you even doing here, Todd?" the snotty kid demanded too loudly for Ric's pounding head. Maybe he got punched too hard that one time on the ring or it was just too much booze. Either way he decided to get some rest before he wandered off to look for a place to stay for the night and it got interrupted by this intruders. "Father banished you from Gotham."

"I just wanted to see for myself," some stranger replied. "Besides we're in Blüdhaven, Demon Spawn, so fuck off."

"Like I would leave Grayson alone with you!" the kid shot back. Yeah, the Demon Spawn suited him just fine right about now.

A heavy hand went down on the roof of the taxi a few times, making enough ruckus that Ric saw stars behind his eyes as the pain in his head intensified from the noise.

"Yo, Dickiebird," the stranger called. "You in there?"

Ric growled in annoyance and scrambled out of the car. The sooner he told them to get lost, the sooner he would have some peace.

"What the fuck do you… want," Ric trailed off at the sight of a tall wall of muscles with red hoodie on and red mask over lower half of his face. The looks completed tight suit with holsters and red bird on his chest.

Flashes of red and brown, strong arms and feeling safe filled his mind for a second and Ric blinked.

"I liked the red helmet and brown jacket better," he blurted.

"You remember him?" Robin looked at him with a mix of hope and betrayal.

"I saw pictures," Ric lied. He was intrigued. So far nothing seemed familiar to him, but this stranger just showed up out of the blue and something sparkled to life.

The Red Hood looked around and then pulled the hood and mask down.

"I'm Jason Todd," he greeted, extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Ric said for once not irritated with his former whatever they were. "And you know who I am."

"Do I?" Jason tilted his head in amusement. "Well, I suppose. Ric was it?"

Ric already liked the guy and wouldn't mind seeing him more often. But there was that tiny little thing.

"Why were you banished from Gotham?" he asked. Blüdhaven was practically next to Gotham and maybe Jason wouldn't want to stick so close to the city of Batman.

"He shoot Penguin," Robin explained eagerly.

Ric looked between the two.

The kid looked satisfied, probably expecting Ric to comment negatively about Red Hood's actions. And well, killing someone was not something Ric would do, but he could understand why somebody else would do that. Besides Penguin wasn't an innocent. The world would be better off without him.

Red Hood, Jason, looked uncertain. Like he too expected an unfavorable comment. Or something worse. He was pulling away and Ric wasn't ready to let him go yet.

"So?" he shrugged.

"So?" Robin sputtered, while Red Hood looked surprised. "We don't kill!"

Yeah, Ric could see sense in that. Heroes shouldn't kill, least they will be viewed as criminals as well. But there were cases when it would be necessary and the no killing rule would do more harm than good.

"Says who?" Ric challenged.

"Batman," the kid stated, proud and sure.

Ric snorted. Looked at the kid and Red Hood, found they were completely serious. He laughed.

"Then Batman is a fucking hypocrite," he said shaking his head when he calmed down.

"What?" Robin stepped back, appalled.

"What do yo mean?" Jason frowned.

"You really don't know?" Ric was bewildered, staring at their confused expressions. "Seriously? You're working with the guy." He ducked back into the car to pop the trunk. He circled the car to the back, moved his bag to the side and started rummaging through the garbage he somehow accumulated. Promising himself to get this mess cleaned out soon he emerged with rumpled and stained folder.

He handed it to Jason.

Red Hood opened it, riffled through a few pages and looked wide eyed at Ric.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, shaken.

"The public library," Ric shrugged. "After they told me who they were and who I was supposed to be, I went looking."

Robin snatched the folder from Jason's numb hands and looked himself.

Copies of articles and pictures of Batman carrying guns and killing thugs. There was even one grainy picture of Batwing with a man hanging from the rope by the neck.

"No," Robin denied, dropping the folder. The sheets scattered on the pavement. "No, it's not true. It can't be. Father wouldn't-"

Shit. Ric felt guilty. He didn't mean to break the kid. On the other hand maybe he'll finally be free of him.

"Calm down," Red Hood pulled Robin into his side.

"Those articles are very old," Ric tried halfheartedly. "From the time he just started as Batman. But it doesn't change the fact he's a hypocrite condemning Jay for shooting the Penguin. And he didn't even die from what I heard."

Ric shifted uncomfortably at the awe in Jason's eyes. What? The man did what had to be done. Why someone should be angry at him? Especially someone like Bruce Wayne? Did the Dick Grayson share the Bat's opinions? If so, Ric wasn't sure he wanted to have anything to do with his old life.

"Get in the car," Jason pushed Robin in direction of the passenger seat.

The kid went without a word, head bowed and fists clenched.

"Hey," Ric blinked into Jason's bluegreen eyes realizing he had been drifting. Red Hood had a tight grip on his arm and a hand on the back of his neck. "I have a safe house nearby. Let's get you checked over, hm?"

Ric swallowed. It galled him to accept the help from one of the Bats, but he obviously wasn't as fine as he thought. Besides Jason was different from the ones that went after him so far.

"Yeah, okay," he agreed.

"Okay," Jason nodded and helped Ric to get into the backseat.

Ric sprawled, trying to get comfortable. Red Hood got into the driver seat and started the car.

The formed Nightwing sighed and relaxed, lulled by the rumble of the engine. Robin still sulked, but Jason hummed to the song playing quietly on the radio.

Yeah, Ric thought as he fell asleep or just lost consciousness, he definitely needed to get Jason to stay longer.


End file.
